Education’s leading music and digital audio workstation

Soundtrap is an online collaborative music and podcast recording studio, that lets students create music and podcasts across any platform. It is COPPA (Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act) compliant so is ideal for schools. Sountrap, seamlessly transforms classrooms to digital through its integration with multiple learning management tools, including Google Classroom and Schoology. Because Soundtrap works across any device, accessibility is paramount: Teachers easily create and follow-up on assignments that students can access from anywhere. Soundtrap’s multitrack workstation fosters a collaborative environment in which students develop their creative and communication skills in a safe and secure online environment.

Soundtrap offers pre-recorded loops, multitrack recording, software instruments, voice recording, sound effects and the ability to connect to MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface) devices. Its multi-device platform supports collaboration through integrated chat and video calls, and users need only sync their devices to see changes during collaboration and update their projects. Many schools are using the Sountrap platform to collaborate with other schools around the globe, exposing their students to new multicultural learning opportunities.

What grade and age range? K-12 through University

Is this core/supplemental/special needs/extracurricular/professional development or what?

Its simplicity, versatility and ease of use makes it accessible for all levels of abilities—across curricula.

In such core subjects as math, science, history, English and technology, Soundtrap assists students in creating podcasts and shared audio projects. In the music classroom, Soundtrap provides students with project-based learning opportunities to create music for such shared experiences as The HATCH Ostinato Project. This unique project matches composers and professionals with students for collaborative professional music production that generates funding for school music programs. https://www.eschoolnews.com/2016/11/03/small-school-turned-every-district-music-composer/

What subject, topic, what standards is it mapped to? Beyond the music classroom, Soundtrap’s versatile platform enables teachers to follow the STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Math) curriculum through music and podcasts.

What is the pricing model?

Trial-based SAAS subscription with a 30 day trial for all schools/districts and then 4.98 USD per seat/year or bought in a creative bundle with Chromebooks - price gets lower depending on number of seats. Lowest number of seats is 50 at 249 USD per year. (works on all platforms and integrated with Google for Classroom as well as Microsoft 365 and larger LMS’s). You can get more details on the pricing here: https://www.soundtrap.com/pricing

Are there services around it?

Video tutorials and guided courses help educators and students navigate Soundtrap and develop their projects. An online Help Desk has answers for common questions concerning everything from usage, splitting regions and making a loop shorter, to pricing, subscriptions and changing the language. Questions that can’t be addressed with the online resources are answered administratively.

What makes Soundrap unique?

Soundtrap is the first cloud-based audio recording platform to work across all operating systems. It is especially suited for today’s mobile-intense generation because students and teachers can access their works-in-progress from any device. Projects are saved in a safe, protected environment and can be accessed at any time, from anywhere.

Soundtrap recently expanded its Education solution to 57 new countries, making it also available in Spanish, French, German and Swedish. This reinforces Soundtrap’s mission of providing a worldwide learning experience for any student with access to a computer or mobile device.

How is it designed for user interface, user experience?

Soundtrap was clearly designed with a very simple focus: To create an easy to use inclusive audio recording tool (in opposition to all very complex tools out there) that was possible to access from anywhere, on all platforms. In this way, creativity can flourish in the classroom, while making the life of tech administration in schools and districts easy.

Teacher reviews:

Music teacher Brad Fuller of the Northern Beaches Christian School in a Sydney, Australia suburb is like many instructors who've found the tool to be transformative in the classroom. "Soundtrap is the only collaborative, real-time solution we’ve found that works for the modern teenager in schools. It’s like Google Docs for musicians," he said. Easy to use and compelling for students, Soundtrap works on Chromebook, Windows, Apple and Linux devices, also integrating with multiple learning management tools like Google Classroom, Schoology and others.

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Shawn Patrick Higgins, Computer Science Teacher, The SEI Academy, a small Title 1 charter school in Portland, Oregon

“I’d been looking for a while for an easy audio editor to use with my students. Then I stumbled on Soundtrap last year, a really cool cloud-based recording studio that we now use for all our podcasts, beat making and sound-effects projects. As a middle school teacher, it’s great that the program has all the important COPA/privacy requirements my students need as well as the social features, which let the students listen and comment on each other's creations and really become invested in their work.”

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Shelley Emslie, fifth grade teacher from Montana

“I was completely blown away by the impact of this software application on my student. While sharing his Genius Hour Soundtrap project, he led the class in selecting musical elements, put them together, then played the resulting composition to the class, all on Soundtrap. My chin was just about hitting the floor during his presentation. Here's a kid who really wasn't interested in much of anything at school, but I watched how he addressed the class with confidence and excited the whole group about the creative process.”

Established in 2014, the Learning Counsel is the first mission-based organization to develop a thesis of education’s future based on converging tech and industry advances,and the first to start documenting real-life implementations in schools.

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